''SimCity 2000'' is a
city-building simulation
A simulation is the imitation of the operation of a real-world process or system over time. Simulations require the use of Conceptual model, models; the model represents the key characteristics or behaviors of the selected system or proc ...
video game
Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...
jointly developed by
Will Wright and
Fred Haslam of
Maxis
Maxis is an American video game developer and a Division (business), division of Electronic Arts (EA). The studio was founded in 1987 by Will Wright (game designer), Will Wright and Jeff Braun, and acquired by Electronic Arts, EA in 1997. Maxi ...
. It is the successor to ''
SimCity Classic'' and was released for
Apple Macintosh
The Mac (known as Macintosh until 1999) is a family of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc. Macs are known for their ease of use and minimalist designs, and are popular among students, creative professionals, and software en ...
personal computers in 1993,
after which it was released on other platforms over the following years, such as the
Sega Saturn
The is a home video game console developed by Sega and released on November 22, 1994, in Japan, May 11, 1995, in North America, and July 8, 1995, in Europe. Part of the fifth generation of video game consoles, it was the successor to the succ ...
and
SNES
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South Korea, 1991 in North America, 1992 in Euro ...
game consoles in 1995 and the
PlayStation
is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a divisi ...
in 1996.
''SimCity 2000'' is played from an isometric perspective as opposed to the previous title, which was played from a top-down perspective. The objective of the game is to create a city, develop residential and industrial areas, build infrastructure and collect taxes for further development of the city. Importance is put on increasing the
standard of living
Standard of living is the level of income, comforts and services available, generally applied to a society or location, rather than to an individual. Standard of living is relevant because it is considered to contribute to an individual's quality ...
of the population, maintaining a balance between the different sectors, and monitoring the region's environmental situation to prevent the settlement from declining and going bankrupt, as extreme
deficit spending
Within the budgetary process, deficit spending is the amount by which spending exceeds revenue over a particular period of time, also called simply deficit, or budget deficit; the opposite of budget surplus. The term may be applied to the budget ...
gets a
game over.
''SimCity 2000'' was critically praised for its vibrant and detailed graphics, improved control menu, gameplay and music. An approximate total of 4.23 million copies of ''SimCity 2000'' have been sold, mainly in the United States, Europe and Japan. While its predecessor pioneered the city-building genre of video games, ''SimCity 2000'' would become the model upon which subsequent urban simulators would be based over the course of the next decades.
Gameplay
The unexpected and enduring success of the original ''
SimCity
''SimCity'' is an open-ended city-building video game series originally designed by Will Wright. The first game in the series, ''SimCity'', was published by Maxis in 1989 and were followed by several sequels and many other spin-off "''Sim' ...
'', combined with the relative lack of success with other "''
Sim''" titles, finally motivated the
development
Development or developing may refer to:
Arts
*Development hell, when a project is stuck in development
*Filmmaking, development phase, including finance and budgeting
*Development (music), the process thematic material is reshaped
* Photograph ...
of a
sequel
A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...
. ''SimCity 2000'' was a major extension of the concept. It had a
near-isometric dimetric view (similar to the earlier Maxis-published ''
A-Train
is a series of business simulation video games developed and published by Japanese game developer Artdink in Japan. The first game in the series was published in 1985. The first release in the United States was ''Take the A-Train II'', published ...
'') instead of overhead, land could have different
elevation
The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Vert ...
s, and underground layers were introduced for
water pipe
Plumbing is any system that conveys fluids for a wide range of applications. Plumbing uses pipes, valves, plumbing fixtures, tanks, and other apparatuses to convey fluids. Heating and cooling (HVAC), waste removal, and potable water delivery ...
s and
subways.
New types of facilities include
prison
A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correc ...
s,
school
A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compuls ...
s,
libraries
A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...
,
museum
A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...
s,
marina
A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : ''marina'', "coast" or "shore") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats.
A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships o ...
s,
hospitals
A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emerge ...
and
arcologies. Players can build
highway
A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It is used for major roads, but also includes other public roads and public tracks. In some areas of the United States, it is used as an equivalent term to controlled-access ...
s,
road
A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation.
There are many types of ...
s,
bus depot
A bus garage, also known as a bus depot, bus base or bus barn, is a facility where buses are stored and maintained. In many conurbations, bus garages are on the site of former car barns or tram sheds, where trams (streetcars) were stored, and ...
s,
railway track
A railway track (British English and UIC terminology) or railroad track (American English), also known as permanent way or simply track, is the structure on a railway or railroad consisting of the rails, fasteners, railroad ties (sleepers, ...
s, subways,
train depot
A train station, railway station, railroad station or depot is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track and a station building providing such ...
s and zone land for
seaport
A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...
s and
airports
An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...
. There are a total of nine varieties of power plants in ''SimCity 2000'', including
coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen.
Coal is formed when dea ...
,
oil
An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...
,
natural gas
Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...
,
nuclear
Nuclear may refer to:
Physics
Relating to the nucleus of the atom:
* Nuclear engineering
*Nuclear physics
*Nuclear power
*Nuclear reactor
*Nuclear weapon
*Nuclear medicine
*Radiation therapy
*Nuclear warfare
Mathematics
*Nuclear space
*Nuclear ...
,
wind turbine
A wind turbine is a device that converts the kinetic energy of wind into electrical energy. Hundreds of thousands of large turbines, in installations known as wind farms, now generate over 650 gigawatts of power, with 60 GW added each year. ...
s,
hydroelectric dams
Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...
(which can only be placed on
waterfall
A waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf.
Waterfalls can be formed in several wa ...
tiles), solar and the futuristic
fusion power
Fusion power is a proposed form of power generation that would generate electricity by using heat from nuclear fusion, nuclear fusion reactions. In a fusion process, two lighter atomic nucleus, atomic nuclei combine to form a heavier nucleus, whi ...
and
satellite microwave plant. Most types of power plants have a limited life span and must be rebuilt periodically. Players can build highways to neighboring cities to increase trade and the population.
The budget and finance controls are also much more elaborate—tax rates can be set individually for residential, commercial and industrial zones. Enacting city ordinances and connecting to neighboring cities became possible. The budget controls are very important in running the city effectively.
Another new addition in ''SimCity 2000'' is the query tool. Using the query tool on tiles reveals information such as structure name and type, altitude, and land value. Certain tiles also display additional information; power plants, for example, display the percentage of power being consumed when queried, and querying roads displays the amount of traffic on that tile. Querying a library and selecting "Ruminate" displays an essay written by
Neil Gaiman
Neil Richard MacKinnon GaimanBorn as Neil Richard Gaiman, with "MacKinnon" added on the occasion of his marriage to Amanda Palmer. ; ( Neil Richard Gaiman; born 10 November 1960) is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, gr ...
.
Graphics were added for buildings under construction in the residential, commercial, and industrial zones, as well as darkened buildings depicting abandoned buildings as a result of
urban decay
Urban decay (also known as urban rot, urban death or urban blight) is the sociological process by which a previously functioning city, or part of a city, falls into disrepair and decrepitude. There is no single process that leads to urban deca ...
.
News comes in the form of several pre-written
newspaper
A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background.
Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...
articles with variable names that could either be called up immediately or could be subscribed to on a yearly basis. The newspaper option provided many humorous stories as well as relevant ones, such as new
technology
Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in medicine, science, ...
, warnings about aging power plants, recent
disaster
A disaster is a serious problem occurring over a short or long period of time that causes widespread human, material, economic or environmental loss which exceeds the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own resources ...
s and
opinion poll
An opinion poll, often simply referred to as a survey or a poll (although strictly a poll is an actual election) is a human research survey of public opinion from a particular sample. Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinions ...
s (highlighting city problems). ''SimCity 2000'' is the only game in the entire series to have this feature (besides the discontinued children's version,
SimTown), though newer versions have a
news ticker
A news ticker (sometimes called a "crawler", "crawl", "slide", "zipper", or "ticker tape") is a horizontal or vertical (depending on a language's writing system) text-based display either in the form of a graphic that typically resides in the lo ...
. The newspapers had random titles (''Times'', ''Post'', ''Herald'', etc.), and prices based on the simulated year. Certain newspapers have a special monthly humor
advice column
An advice column is a column in a question and answer format. Typically, a (usually anonymous) reader writes to the media outlet with a problem in the form of a question, and the media outlet provides an answer or response.
The responses are w ...
by "Miss Sim". Some headlines have no purpose whatsoever in the game, such as "Bald Radio Found" or "Frog Convention".
Though there is no "true" victory sequence in ''SimCity 2000'', the "
exodus
Exodus or the Exodus may refer to:
Religion
* Book of Exodus, second book of the Hebrew Torah and the Christian Bible
* The Exodus, the biblical story of the migration of the ancient Israelites from Egypt into Canaan
Historical events
* Ex ...
" is a close parallel. An "exodus" occurs during the year 2051 or later, when 300 or more Launch Arcologies are constructed; the following January each one "takes off" into space so that their inhabitants can form new civilizations on distant worlds.
This reduces the city's population to those who are not living in the Launch Arcologies, but it also opens wide areas for redevelopment and returns their construction cost to the city treasury. This is related to the event in ''
SimEarth
''SimEarth'' is a life simulation video game, the second designed by Will Wright and published in 1990 by Maxis. In ''SimEarth'', the player controls the development of a planet. English scientist James Lovelock served as an advisor and his G ...
'' where all cities are moved into rocket-propelled
dome
A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...
s that then leave to "found new worlds" (leaving no sentient life behind).
The game also included several playable scenarios, in which the player must deal with a disaster (in most, but not all scenarios) and rebuild the city to meet a set of victory conditions. These were based in versions of real-life cities, and some were based on real events such as the
Oakland firestorm of 1991
:
The Oakland firestorm of 1991 was a large suburban wildland–urban interface conflagration that occurred on the hillsides of northern Oakland, California, and southeastern Berkeley over the weekend of October 19–20, 1991, before being b ...
, the 1989
Hurricane Hugo
Hurricane Hugo was a powerful Cape Verde tropical cyclone that inflicted widespread damage across the northeastern Caribbean and the Southeastern United States in September 1989. Across its track, Hugo affected approximately 2 million peop ...
in
Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...
, the
Great Flood of 1993
The Great Flood of 1993 (or Great Mississippi and Missouri Rivers Flood of 1993) was a flood that occurred in the Midwestern United States, along the Mississippi and Missouri rivers and their tributaries, from April to October 1993. The flood wa ...
in
Davenport, Iowa
Davenport is a city in and the county seat of Scott County, Iowa, United States. Located along the Mississippi River on the eastern border of the state, it is the largest of the Quad Cities, a metropolitan area with a population of 384,324 and a ...
, or dealing with the
1970s economic recession in
Flint, Michigan
Flint is the largest city and seat of Genesee County, Michigan, United States. Located along the Flint River, northwest of Detroit, it is a principal city within the region known as Mid Michigan. At the 2020 census, Flint had a population of 8 ...
—but also included more fanciful ones such as a "monster" destroying
Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywood, ...
in 2001. More scenarios added with the SimCity Urban Renewal Kit (SCURK) included a nuclear meltdown in
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
in 2007.
Expansion
In 1994, Maxis released an
expansion pack
An expansion pack, expansion set, supplement, or simply expansion is an addition to an existing role-playing game, tabletop game, video game or collectible card game. These add-ons usually add new game areas, weapons, objects, characters, or an ...
to ''SimCity 2000'' called ''Scenarios Vol. I: Great Disasters'', which included new scenarios based on a number of possible disasters. These disasters generally destroy the city and require the player to rebuild the city. They include: A
UFO
An unidentified flying object (UFO), more recently renamed by US officials as a UAP (unidentified aerial phenomenon), is any perceived aerial phenomenon that cannot be immediately identified or explained. On investigation, most UFOs are id ...
attack, two
nuclear meltdown
A nuclear meltdown (core meltdown, core melt accident, meltdown or partial core melt) is a severe nuclear reactor accident that results in core damage from overheating. The term ''nuclear meltdown'' is not officially defined by the Internation ...
scenarios, two major chemical spill scenarios, a large flood, a major hurricane, two firestorm scenarios, a volcano, an earthquake, a high power microwave beam misfire, riots, and a typhoon.
Alongside the ''Great Disasters Scenarios'' package came the introduction of a separate toolset called the ''SimCity Urban Renewal Kit'' (''SCURK'' for short). It enabled players to modify the images used in-game to represent various buildings in much the same manner as general image manipulation software. The player was able to create basic bitmap files of a standard size with a standard 256 color palette. The use of limited
palette cycling, which permitted animation, was also possible.
A number of pre-altered graphics packages were distributed, including some which replaced the reward buildings with images of various well known international buildings, such as the
Eiffel Tower
The Eiffel Tower ( ; french: links=yes, tour Eiffel ) is a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower.
Locally nicknamed "'' ...
, but most buildings were made by fan-artists and shared on the Internet. Several ''SCURK'' designs influenced the designs of ''
SimCity 3000''s original buildings. The cities made in SCURK can be saved and used for ''SimCity 2000.'' SCURK would also pave way to a hobby of creating custom cities for ''
SimCopter
''SimCopter'' is a 1996 flight simulator video game developed by Maxis. It puts the player into a 3D city. Like ''Streets of SimCity'', ''SimCopter'' lets the user import ''SimCity 2000'' maps into the game. It is also the first game to use the ...
'' and ''
Streets of SimCity
''Streets of SimCity'' is a racing and vehicular combat 3D computer game published by Maxis and Electronic Arts in 1997. The game features the ability to visit any city created in ''SimCity 2000,'' as well as a network mode, allowing for players t ...
''.
Ports and special editions
''SimCity 2000'' has been released on a wide range of platforms and version since its debut in 1993, ranging from ports of personal computers and video game consoles, to special editions.
''SimCity 2000 Special Edition''
A re-packaged version of ''SimCity 2000'', ''SimCity 2000 Special Edition'' (also known as the ''CD Collection''), was released on February 7, 1995 for
Microsoft Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
and
DOS
DOS is shorthand for the MS-DOS and IBM PC DOS family of operating systems.
DOS may also refer to:
Computing
* Data over signalling (DoS), multiplexing data onto a signalling channel
* Denial-of-service attack (DoS), an attack on a communicat ...
PCs. In addition to containing ''All expansions'', it also featured the ''SimCity Urban Renewal Kit'', the Vol. 1 scenario pack, remade music, new cities selected by Maxis from a 1994 competition, bonus scenarios and cities, and movies.
The movies were a first for Maxis; ''SimCity 2000-SE'' was the first "Sim" game to feature
produced videos. These videos included the introduction movie and four commentary videos by
Will Wright; the latter were accessed via the "WillTV" application that came with the game.
The Windows 95 version of the game will install in Windows XP 32bit. Various incompatibility ills with the save/load dialogs for later 64bit OS's can be cured with 3rd party patches.
In December 2014 Electronic Arts offered SimCity 2000 Special Edition as a free download for an unspecified limited time. Unlike the original release versions of the game, this downloadable version requires connectivity to the Electronic Arts servers for saves and gameplay. It is the DOS Special Edition with the WillTV movies, packaged with preconfigured DOSBox running at fixed 640x480 and an automatic installer to run in modern Windows.
''SimCity 2000 Network Edition''
''SimCity 2000 Network Edition'', sometimes unofficially referred to as the "Gold Edition", was released in 1996 for Windows 32-bit only. The game features slightly different gameplay in network mode, where mayors may start with more money, but must buy land before building upon it. Players (up to 4) of the Network Edition have the ability to share in-game resources and to compete or cooperate with other cities.
This version also features a revamped
user interface
In the industrial design field of human–computer interaction, a user interface (UI) is the space where interactions between humans and machines occur. The goal of this interaction is to allow effective operation and control of the machine f ...
. Instead of a static
toolbar
The toolbar, also called a bar or standard toolbar (originally known as ribbon) is a graphical control element on which on-screen icons can be used. A toolbar often allows for quick access to functions that are commonly used in the program. Some ...
, items are accessed via cascading menus from the right of the screen, resulting in more screen real-estate for ''SimCity'' itself, without sacrificing functionality.
SC2kNet has trouble running on NT based OS's. There is a Network Interoperability Patch to cure the problems, a Network Launcher / Browser / Server Patch to improve slow server response and browse game IP addresses, an updated help file, and a game full screen utility.
''SimCity 2000'' (RISC OS)
A port for Acorn
RISC OS
RISC OS is a computer operating system originally designed by Acorn Computers Ltd in Cambridge, England. First released in 1987, it was designed to run on the ARM chipset, which Acorn had designed concurrently for use in its new line of Archim ...
was released in 1995. The conversion was performed by
Krisalis Software
Krisalis Software Limited was a British video game developer and publisher founded by Tony Kavanagh, Peter Harrap, and Shaun Hollingworth in 1987 under the name Teque Software Development Limited as a subsidiary label (beginning in 1988) unti ...
which had ported the original SimCity to the platform. Music differed from the original.
''SimCity 2000'' (Sega Saturn)
The first console version of the game, one of the first games announced for the Sega Saturn, and one of the first titles for the American Sega Saturn, it was released in fall of 1995.
The Saturn had several changes when compared to the original version of the game. The graphics were enhanced to showcase the power of the console's hardware with 3D animations for the buildings in the building query windows, and the buildings would change their appearances between 1950 and 2000. The Braun Llama Dome doesn't appear in this version, instead, a Space Terminal which assists in the launching of the Arco appears instead. Several FMV sequences are also included, which the opening sequernce displays a scene of the Alien/Monster chasing a Launch Arco in space.
The scenarios from the Great Disasters expansion pack was also included. The gameplay remains the same for the most part. There are several new animated videos. The opening sequence displays a scene of the Alien/Monster chasing a Launch Arco in space.
''SimCity 2000'' (PlayStation)
The
PlayStation
is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a divisi ...
version of the game was released in 1996.
The PlayStation version is similar to the Sega Saturn version of the game, however, the city doesn't evolve over the years, but adds the feature to tour your city from a car's perspective. The only additions are some more scenarios from the Great Disasters expansion pack, including one that involves a new volcano forming in
Portland
Portland most commonly refers to:
* Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States
* Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...
(destroying most of the city, and requiring the mayor to rebuild it). The Silicon Valley and Washington, D.C. scenarios are on the disk but are not used.
This version was released on the
PlayStation Network
PlayStation Network (PSN) is a digital media entertainment service provided by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Launched in November 2006, PSN was originally conceived for the PlayStation video game consoles, but soon extended to encompass smartp ...
in Europe for both
PSP and
PS3 on November 20, 2008, and in North America on August 28, 2009.
''SimCity 2000'' (Nintendo 64)
A Japan-only release of ''SimCity 2000'' for the
Nintendo 64
The (N64) is a home video game console developed by Nintendo. The successor to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, it was released on June 23, 1996, in Japan, on September 29, 1996, in North America, and on March 1, 1997, in Europe and Au ...
on January 30, 1998, produced and published by Imagineer Co., Ltd.
It featured some additional features, mainly mini-games, a dating game, TV to replace the newspaper, horse races and monster breeding, among others, all of them in 3D. A few new "natural" disasters were also included, most of them being giant monster attacks (players were able to use their monster to fight against them).
''SimCity 64''
Another Japan-only release, ''SimCity 64'' was based on the SimCity 2000 game but was heavily customized for the
Nintendo 64DD
The is a magnetic floppy disk drive peripheral for the Nintendo 64 game console developed by Nintendo. It was announced in 1995, prior to the Nintendo 64's 1996 launch, and after numerous delays was released in Japan on December 13, 1999. The "6 ...
game system. The ability to view the city at night was added, pedestrian level free-roaming of a city, and individual road vehicles and pedestrians controlled by their own AI wandered the player's city. Cities in the game are also presented in much more advanced 3D graphics, making SimCity 64 the first
true 3D
3D computer graphics, or “3D graphics,” sometimes called CGI, 3D-CGI or three-dimensional computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data (often Cartesian) that is stored in the computer for th ...
SimCity game.
''SimCity 2000'' (Super Nintendo Entertainment System/Super Famicom)
This port was released in North America by
THQ
THQ Inc. was an American video game company based in Agoura Hills, California. It was founded in April 1990 by Jack Friedman, originally in Calabasas, and became a public company the following year through a reverse merger takeover. Initi ...
in late 1996, near the end of the Super Nintendo's life span. There were a lot of losses and differences from the original version.
The scrolling screen takes much longer to scroll and the in-game controls were modified. As in the previous ''SimCity'' title, there is no SNES Mouse support. Riots and volcanoes were removed. Also, the SNES port omits the cheat codes, limits the city maps to six, has no difficulty setting and includes only five generic scenarios. There is only one save slot. There is only one newspaper for the whole city, no matter what size that the city is. The game has fewer songs than the original PC version.
In addition, the stock photographs were replaced with more Japanese anime/manga-like pictures. This is the only port of the game to feature such pictures. All team names, city names, and mayor names were limited to 8 characters, whereas the PC version allows for up to 32 characters. There are additional gifts: a bigger city hall at 1,000,000 population, a TV station at 2,000,000 population, and a rocket launching pad at 3,000,000 population. The player can see an actual launch of a single launch arco by achieving 5,000,000 population in the last scenario.
''SimCity 2000'' (Game Boy Advance)
Released by Destination Software in 2003, ''SimCity 2000'' for the Game Boy Advance featured most of the same content as previous versions, but several features are omitted, such as launch arcos. There is no water system, but it is unknown whether this was to make it a better portable experience or because of technical limitations.
''SimCity 2000 v1.01c'' (IBM OS/2 Warp)
Released by WinWare February 6, 1996, ported by Mark A. Pietras, Micheal A. Pitts, James R. Thomas.
Reception
In the United States, ''SimCity 2000'' was the ninth best-selling computer game between 1993 and 1999, selling 1.4 million units.
During 1996 alone, it achieved sales of 500,000 copies. According to
PC Data
PC Data was an American market research and point of sale tracking firm founded in 1991 and based in Reston, Virginia. Its founder, Ann Stephens, had worked previously as the head researcher for the Software Publishers Association. Initially, th ...
, ''SimCity 2000 SE'' was the United States' 20th-best-selling computer game during the January–November 1998 period.
According to Maxis's
Lucy Bradshaw, ''SimCity 2000'' achieved global sales of 3.4 million units across all platforms by January 2002.
Critical reception
''
Computer Gaming World
''Computer Gaming World'' (CGW) was an American computer game magazine published between 1981 and 2006. One of the few magazines of the era to survive the video game crash of 1983, it was sold to Ziff Davis in 1993. It expanded greatly through ...
''s reviewer, an author of a book on the first ''SimCity'', wrote in 1994 that ''SimCity 2000'' for Macintosh offered "plenty of new challenges", fixed "virtually every criticism I leveled at the game" in the book, and "is without question a superior program". He concluded that it was "more fun than the original ''SimCity'' ... It's Sim-ply irresistible".
The magazine said that the CD version's "multimedia enhancements make for a more accessible and enjoyable product".
''SimCity 2000'' was named Best Simulation at the 1994
Codie awards, the fifth win in a row for Maxis.
It was a runner-up for ''Computer Gaming World''s Strategy Game of the Year award in June 1994, losing to ''
Master of Orion
''Master of Orion'' (abbreviated as MoO) is a turn-based, 4X science fiction strategy game in which the player leads one of ten races to dominate the galaxy through a combination of diplomacy and conquest while developing technology, exploring a ...
''. The editors wrote, "This advanced city simulator adds many of the features and considerations that were previously lacking in the original ''SimCity''."
It was also a finalist for ''
Electronic Entertainment
Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This feedback ...
''s 1993 "Best Game" award, which ultimately went to ''
X-Wing
The X-wing starfighter is a name applied to a family of fictional spacecraft manufactured by the Incom Corporation from the ''Star Wars'' franchise. Named for the distinctive shape made when its s-foils (wings) are in attack position, the X-win ...
''.
In 1994 ''
PC Gamer US
''PC Gamer'' is a magazine and website founded in the United Kingdom in 1993 devoted to PC gaming and published monthly by Future plc. The magazine has several regional editions, with the UK and US editions becoming the best selling PC games mag ...
'' named ''SimCity 2000'' the 7th best computer game ever,
and ''
PC Gamer UK
''PC Gamer'' is a magazine and website founded in the United Kingdom in 1993 devoted to PC gaming and published monthly by Future plc. The magazine has several regional editions, with the UK and US editions becoming the best selling PC games mag ...
'' named it the best computer game of all time, writing, "Near perfect in conception and execution, ''SimCity 2000'' does what most games never even dream of."
In 1996, ''Next Generation'' listed the personal computer versions as number 33 on their "Top 100 Games of All Time", calling it "easily one of the most enthralling games playable." In August 2016, ''SimCity 2000'' placed 13th on
Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
's The 50 Best Video Games of All Time list. In 1996,
GamesMaster
''GamesMaster'' is a British television programme which originally aired on Channel 4 from 1992 to 1998. In 2021, it returned for a new series on YouTube and E4. It was the first UK television programme dedicated to video games.
Dominik Diam ...
ranked Sim City 2000 70th on their "Top 100 Games of All Time". In the same issue, GamesMaster rated the Sega Saturn version 10th in its "The GamesMaster Saturn Top 10".
In 1995, ''SimCity 2000'' won "Best Military or Strategy Computer Game of 1994"
Origins Award
The Origins Awards are American awards for outstanding work in the game industry. They are presented by the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design at the Origins Game Fair on an annual basis for the previous year, so (for example) the 1979 aw ...
.
In 1998, ''
PC Gamer
''PC Gamer'' is a magazine and website founded in the United Kingdom in 1993 devoted to PC gaming and published monthly by Future plc. The magazine has several regional editions, with the UK and US editions becoming the best selling PC games ma ...
'' declared it the 35th-best computer game ever released, and the editors called it "''lots'' of fun".
Console ports
''
Famitsu
formerly ''Famicom Tsūshin'', is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly formats as well as in the fo ...
'' magazine's Reader Cross Review gave the Super Famicom version of the game a 6 out of 10.
[読者 クロスレビュー: シムシティ2000. Weekly Famicom Tsūshin. No.358. Pg.32. 27 October 1995.] Andromeda of ''
GamePro
Gamepro.com is an international multiplatform video game magazine media company that covers the video game industry, video game hardware and video game software in countries such as Germany and France. The publication, GamePro, was originally la ...
'' commented that it suffers from an awkward control interface and repetitive music, but offers more than the Super NES version of the original and is an overall worthwhile purchase for simulation fans.
Ed Lomas of ''
Sega Saturn Magazine
''Sega Saturn Magazine'' was a monthly UK magazine covering the Sega Saturn, a home video game console. It held the official Saturn magazine license for the UK, and some issues included a demo CD created by Sega, ''Sega Flash'', which included ...
'' criticized the slow scrolling in the Saturn port but applauded the game itself for its depth, realism, and addictiveness, calling it "one of the few games that appeals to just about everyone. It ... has the strange ability to convert full-time
arcade shooter
Shoot 'em ups (also known as shmups or STGs
) are a sub-genre of action games. There is no consensus as to which design elements compose a shoot 'em up; some restrict the definition to games featuring spacecraft and certain types of charac ...
fans into around the clock
urban planner
An urban planner (also known as town planner) is a professional who practices in the field of town planning, urban planning or city planning.
An urban planner may focus on a specific area of practice and have a title such as city planner, town ...
s with a sense of
civic duty."
A reviewer for ''Maximum'' commented that the Saturn port contains all the considerable content of the PC version and is good fun to play, but has worse graphics and more slowdown than the PC version does, even when running on computers which are much less powerful than the Saturn.
A reviewer for ''Next Generation'' said that the Saturn version "is a carbon copy of the latest installment of this city-planning simulation game, and, as such, it carries with it the monstrously addictive quality and absorbing challenge of all ''SimCity'' games." He said that the one major problem is the Saturn version's lack of mouse support.
[ ''GamePro''s brief review said that the expanded menu "bogs 2000 down a little" but that the game would still be enjoyable for fans of the series.
The four reviewers of '']Electronic Gaming Monthly
''Electronic Gaming Monthly'' (often abbreviated to ''EGM'') is a monthly American video game magazine. It offers video game news, coverage of industry events, interviews with gaming figures, editorial content and product reviews.
History
The m ...
'' applauded the PlayStation version for including mouse support, declaring the game the killer app
In marketing terminology, a killer application (commonly shortened to killer app) is any computer program or software that is so necessary or desirable that it proves the core value of some larger technology, such as computer hardware, a video game ...
for the PlayStation Mouse
The PlayStation Mouse (US/UK: SCPH-1090, JP: SCPH-1030) is an input device for the PlayStation that allows the player to use a mouse as a method of control in compatible games. The mouse was released in Japan on December 3, 1994, the launch date ...
. They criticized the port's interface and low resolution graphics, which Dan Hsu felt were enough to ruin the game, but were unanimously pleased with the addictive simulation gameplay. A reviewer for ''Next Generation'' said the game is "a true, if uninspired, descendant" of the original ''SimCity''. He praised the addition of the 3D "ride-through" feature in the PlayStation version, but complained of the clunky interface when using the PlayStation joypad. Scary Larry of ''GamePro'' contended that the slow and confusing interface of the PlayStation conversion ruin any enjoyment that might be found in the game. IGN
''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
staff erroneously criticized the PlayStation version for lacking mouse support, and said the game doesn't compare well to other simulation titles, but nonetheless assessed it as "worth it" for fans of the genre.
Promotion
In March 1994, Maxis arranged with Compute! Publications to have a contest for ''Compute!
''Compute!'' (), often stylized as ''COMPUTE!'', was an American home computer magazine that was published from 1979 to 1994. Its origins can be traced to 1978 in Len Lindsay's ''PET Gazette'', one of the first magazines for the Commodore PET c ...
'' magazine readers to design original cities with the game. Compute! handled the judging of entries submitted via posted floppy disks. The contest anticipated a minimum of five winning contestants and a maximum of twenty. The winners were awarded $50, a $50 software package from Maxis and a $15 hint book from Compute!. The contest ended by the beginning of the next month.
Legacy
In December 2012, the Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues.
It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...
acquired ''SimCity 2000'' to its permanent collection of video games. As one of the more complex and longer games in the exhibition, the game is presented as a specially designed demo.
Several games were released as spinoffs to ''SimCity 2000''.
*''SimHealth
''SimHealth: The National Health Care Simulation'' is a management simulation video game developed by Thinking Tools and published by Maxis in 1994 for MS-DOS with assistance from the Markle Foundation. It is a simulation of the United States he ...
'' – Released in 1994, the game simulated President Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and again f ...
's healthcare reform proposals for the US; designed for a niche audience at best, the simulation never achieved great popularity. It featured a user interface
In the industrial design field of human–computer interaction, a user interface (UI) is the space where interactions between humans and machines occur. The goal of this interaction is to allow effective operation and control of the machine f ...
that resembled a city in ''SimCity 2000''.
*''SimCopter
''SimCopter'' is a 1996 flight simulator video game developed by Maxis. It puts the player into a 3D city. Like ''Streets of SimCity'', ''SimCopter'' lets the user import ''SimCity 2000'' maps into the game. It is also the first game to use the ...
'' – An arcade helicopter flight simulator based on the cities of ''SimCity 2000'', ''SimCopter'' was published in 1996. It had the capability of importing ''SimCity 2000'' cities and allowing the user to pilot a helicopter around them and accomplish missions such as rescuing people or putting out a fire.
*''Streets of SimCity
''Streets of SimCity'' is a racing and vehicular combat 3D computer game published by Maxis and Electronic Arts in 1997. The game features the ability to visit any city created in ''SimCity 2000,'' as well as a network mode, allowing for players t ...
'' – Published in 1997, ''Streets of SimCity'' was a racing game
Racing games are a video game genre in which the player participates in a racing competition. They may be based on anything from real-world racing leagues to fantastical settings. They are distributed along a spectrum between more realistic rac ...
based on the ''SimCopter'' engine. In addition to racing, it also featured courier
A courier is a person or organisation that delivers a message, package or letter from one place or person to another place or person. Typically, a courier provides their courier service on a commercial contract basis; however, some couriers are ...
missions and vehicular combat
Vehicular combat games (also known as just vehicular combat or car combat) are a sub-genre of vehicle simulation video games where the primary objectives of gameplay include vehicles armed with weapons attempting to destroy vehicles controlled b ...
.
References
External links
*
*
''SimCity 2000''
at Hall Of Light
{{Authority control
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